Recommended reading
Anderson, Benedict, 1991, Imagined Communities: Reflections on
the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, 2nd edn, London, Verso
A highly regarded analysis of a key aspect of the modern world –
nationalism.
Baylis, John and Smith, Steve (eds), 2005, The Globalization of
World Politics, 3rd edn, Oxford, Oxford University Press
A very accessible introduction to international relations.
Finer, S. E., 1997, A History of Government, 3 vols, Oxford, Oxford
University Press
A treasure trove of information on the historical development of
political systems – no doubt too long for most beginners to read from
end to end.
Fortes, M. and Evans-Pritchard, E. E., 1961, African Political
Systems, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Fascinating series of case studies of tribal politics.
Prawer, J. and Eisenstadt, S. N., 1968, ‘Feudalism’, in Sills, David L.
(ed.), International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, New York,
Macmillan, Vol. 5: 393–403
Excellent short introduction, many other useful articles in the
same publication.
Scholte, J. A., 2000, Globalization: A Critical Introduction, London,
Macmillan
A good overview of ‘globalisation’.Websites
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
Internet Medieval Sourcebook of Fordham University Center for
Medieval Studies (for feudalism).
http://www.worldbank.org
Useful source of global statistics on economy and governance.
http://www.fride.org/eng/Publications/publication.aspx?item=787
Factual information on the political systems and governments of
specific Arab countries.48 SYSTEMS